The present invention concerns methods of microcurrent electrotherapy for the relief or attenuation of pain through operative mechanisms including relaxation of involuntarily contracted muscles.
The art is replete with examples of electrotherapy methods and apparatus, known by a variety of names often depending upon the specific nature of the treatment regimen involved. Known designations include MCT (microcurrent therapy), NET (neuroelectrical therapy), MENS (minimal electrical non-invasive stimulation), and TENS (transcutaneous electrical stimulation).
Prior art examples from the wide variety of electrotherapy references include U. S. Pat. Nos. 4,646,744 (A Method of Applying an Electrical Signal Transcranially), 4,180,079 (An Electroacupuncture Instrument), and a number of documents relating generally to other aspects of electrotherapy methods and apparatus, including EPO applications 316,994 and 367,338, German patents 2,023,716 and 2,736,345, Swiss patent 577,323, French patent 242,033 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,294,092, 1,155,036, 1,908,688, 2,004,751 and 2,327,874. U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,573 discloses a therapeutical apparatus for applying the superposed output of DC and AC voltages. Australian patent 496878 and French patent 2295763 appear to be the respective Australian and French counterparts of above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,573.
Still other patent art relating to electrotherapy and variations includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,955,583, 4,724,841, 3,888,261 and 3,835,833, and German patent 2806569.
The literature of electrotherapy is also voluminous. Examples include: (1) Guidebook for Musculoskeletal Disfunctions by Donald Stragier, Micro-Med Systems, (describes the application of AC electrical stimulus to muscle origin and insertion points); (2) MENS Therapy Clinical Perspectives by Lynn A. Wallace; (3) Modern Bioelectricity, edited by Andrew A. Marino; (4) Hooked?--NET; The New Approach to Drug Cure by Meg Patterson; (5) The Body Electric--Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life by Robert O. Becker, MD and Gary Selden; and (6) Cross Currents by Robert O. Becker, MD.
As noted, it is known in the prior art to superpose alternating current and direct current for electrotherapy treatment; however, a number of other properties of the electrical stimulus to be used, including polarity, voltage magnitude, current magnitude, and frequency can have a significant or even a determining impact upon the efficacy of the treatment. In addition, the direction of current flow through the muscle tissue is believed to be an important factor in the efficacy of the treatment.
The prior art has not contemplated the proper, effective combination of electrical parameters for truly effective electrotherapy. Prior art apparatus generally has operated at very high voltages or very high currents, both of which can have a diathermy effect on the tissue being treated. In many cases, the prior art may mention one or another of the various electrical parameters, but fails to consider the importance of other parameters. For example, known AC electrotherapy devices often provide such high currents that they bombard the tissue, or provide such low voltage that the electrical signal does not penetrate the skin.
Electrotherapy can be enormously beneficial in pain management. Many people go about their day-to-day lives afflicted with chronic pain conditions of various sorts, often having been told nothing can be done and that they simply must learn to live with the pain. The individual may experience chronic pain at any level of intensity from a minor nuisance to a thoroughly debilitating condition; however, for any level of chronic pain, the inescapable effect is going to be unnecessary limitations on the range of patient cognitive function in day-to-day living. Effective pain management thus is an important component of individual health care that can improve the patient's range and quality of cognitive function, and his or her overall quality of life. To the extent that these beneficial prospects can arise, the level of day-to-day stress imposed on those persons chronically afflicted with pain can be reduced.
In addition, an improved and more effective microcurrent therapy can offer the prospect of greater cost effectiveness in the treatment and management of pain, with the attendant benefits of wider patient participation, improved medical resource allocation, and the additional benefit to research of faster accumulation of larger volumes of patient treatment and response data.